"Clicks and Bricks" in E-Commerce

"Clicks and Bricks" in E-Commerce

The company knows that success will come to anyone who can execute the strategy of "clicks and bricks", "Clicks" means using the Internet, while the "bricks" means the use of buildings or shops selling traditional as well so the company has a virtual store and the actual store, the bridge the real world with the virtual world. Different companies will have to follow very different paths to decide how close and away the integration of their Internet businesses with their traditional operations.

Spectrum illustrated the various alternatives and weaknesses as well as excess benefits that companies face when selecting an E-Business strategy "virtual and real (clicks and bricks)" in E-Commerce. E-Business managers must answer this question: Should we integrate the business operations of virtual E-Commerce with traditional bisnisfisik our operations, or let it remain separate. The Company has implemented various strategies of integration/separation and decided the advantages and disadvantages of various benefits in answering these questions. Let's look at some of the alternatives available.

Integration of E-Commerce

Internet is just another channel that fitted into the business architecture. That says CIO Bill Settzer and office supplies retailer Office Depot, which fully integrate E-Commerce sales channel their traditional OfficelDepot.com into their business operations. Thus, Office Depot is a good example of the reason why many companies have chosen to integrate the strategy of "clicks and bricks", place their e-commerce businesses are integrated in some way, to the company's traditional business operations. The business case for such a strategy lies in: First, the use of the unique capabilities of any existing strategy in the company's traditional business operations, which can be used to support the E-Commerce business. Second, how to get some of the benefits of the strategy to integrate e-commerce into the traditional business enterprises, such as the famous brand and share critical business information, and the efficiency of the joint purchasing power of distribution.

For example, Office Depot has had a successful business catalog sales and call centers profesional and departure for more than 2,000 trucks. His store totaling 1,825 pieces and 30 the storehouse is connected through a network with a sophisticated information system that gives complete data over customers, vendors, orders, and product inventory in real time. These businesses form the resource base is invaluable for coordination activities of E-Commerce Office Depot as well as services in the business pelangannya katalaognya or physical store. Thus, customers can shop at OfficeDepot.com from their home or office, or of the various kiosks in stores. They can choose to take their own purchases at the store or ask the items have been shipped. In addition, the integration of E-Commerce applications that run Web memalui preformance traditional Office Depot stores and catalog operations, has helped to improve the physical store traffic and increase business productivity catalogs and average order size.